Illinois men, USC women take East Lake Cup titles
Alex Burge
ATLANTA, Ga. — The Illinois men and USC women earned some redemption Tuesday at East Lake Golf Club, where they won respective titles at the East Lake Cup in a matchup of last season's national semifinalists.
The Fighting Illini ousted the USC Trojans men's team in the semifinals as play trickled into Tuesday morning and went on to defeat the Georgia Bulldogs 2-1 in the men's final match.
Illinois' seniors led the way, going undefeated as Thomas Detry and Charlie Danielson picked up crucial wins Tuesday afternoon over Georgia's Sepp Straka and Jaime Lopez Rivarola.
The winning put came from another senior, Alex Burge, who two-putted for birdie on the final hole to give his Fighting Illini the victory.
“It’s a big confidence boost for me,” Burge told Golf Channel. “I’ve been on the other side of the spectrum a few times, so to be able to come back and pull it out was exciting.”
The win caps a four-win fall for the Illini, who are ranked No. 2 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings. The USC men's team beat out LSU, 4-1, in the consolation match.
No. 1 USC beat out No. 2 Duke, 4-1, to take the women's title. Gabriella Then and Karen Chung pulled off clutch wins, beating out Duke's Leona Maguire and Celine Boutier in the finals.
Stanford beat out Baylor, 4-0, in the consolation match.
-Golfweek's Andy Zunz contributed to this story.
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ABOUT THE East Lake Cup
Started in 2015 and hosted by the historic
East
Lake Golf Club Atlanta, this collegiate, three-day
match
play competition features the top-performing
teams
from the previous year's NCAA Men’s
Golf Championships. There is an individual award for
the low 18-hole scorer
in the seeding round.
View Complete Tournament Information